External data storage devices, such as universal serial bus (USB) flash drives, provide a convenient and relatively inexpensive medium for saving and transporting electronic files between different host computing devices. However, the portability of such storage devices also makes them more susceptible to being misplaced or stolen, which may be particularly problematic where such devices are used for storing sensitive or confidential information.
To provide enhanced security, some USB flash drives provide data encryption so that information stored on the drive is encrypted. More particularly, the information is inaccessible without a corresponding application installed on a host computer that provides an interface for authentication when the flash drive is connected to the host computer. However, despite the existence of such drives, further security or convenience features may be desirable in some instances.